JUDY WOODRUFF: Three more large states, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois, are joining the
move to end indoor mask mandates. New York state announced today that its mask requirement expires
tomorrow, except at health care sites and public schools. Illinois will do the same at month's end.
In response, the CDC said it is working on new national guidance and wants to be flexible.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC Director: We have always said these decisions are going to have
to be made at the local level, and that policies at the local level will look at local cases. They
will look at how local hospitals are doing. They will look at local vaccination rates.
And they, as I understand it, in many of these decisions,
are using a phased approach. Not all of these decisions are being made to stop things tomorrow.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, Massachusetts announced
plans to lift its public school mask mandate at the end of the month.
We return to masking in schools after the news summary.
Canadian officials insisted today that anti-vaccine protests at U.S.
border crossings must end before they do serious economic damage.
Traffic is now stalled between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario,
and the busy Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, has been clogged since Monday.
The mayor of Windsor said today, it has to stop.
DREW DILKENS, Mayor of Windsor, Ontario: It will have be resolved one way or the
other. And I'm not saying that to suggest that we're going to go in battering rams and 1,000
police officers. That may not be the solution. But there has to be a resolution to get this
border crossing open, so that we do not impact the economies of the United States and Canada.
JUDY WOODRUFF: A border crossing in Alberta is also blocked,
and trucks have paralyzed downtown Ottawa for 13 days. Amid the protests,
several Canadian provinces have announced plans to roll back COVID restrictions.
Russia's military moves kept the pressure on Ukraine today. Moscow released video
showing a convoy in Belarus transporting an air defense system. The Russians plan
joint military exercises with Belarus tomorrow. Meanwhile, the British foreign
secretary flew to Russia, in the latest diplomatic effort to defuse the situation.
Iran has unveiled a new long-range missile reportedly capable of reaching Israel. State
TV said today that the weapon is highly accurate and can defeat missile shield systems. It can fly
900 miles, putting it in range of U.S. bases in the Middle East, as well as Israel.
In Madagascar, the death toll has reached 92, with more than 100,000 people displaced,
after a tropical cyclone last weekend. Most of the casualties came in an isolated,
rural district of the island nation, some 330 miles from the capital city.
Many homes in the area were made of earth, and collapsed in heavy flooding from downpours.
Now survivors are pleading for help.
PHILIBERT RAZANANORO (Madagascar Resident): Our TV, my C.D. player, all of our clothing,
all the kitchenware, everything is gone. Moreover, we don't have anything to eat, and I'm jobless.
I call on the international community to help us,
because the government won't be able to find solutions to our problems.
JUDY WOODRUFF: This was the second powerful storm to strike Madagascar since the year began.
Back in this country, a congressional committee subpoenaed Peter Navarro,
who was President Trump's White House trade adviser. Navarro pushed false
claims of election fraud, and the committee says he has information directly relevant
to the causes of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Lawmakers in Congress have agreed on a spending framework for the fiscal year
that began four months ago. There were no details today, but the bipartisan deal could
jump-start legislation on defense and domestic spending. Currently,
the government is operating on temporary stopgap funding.
The owner of pro football's Washington Commanders, Dan Snyder, is facing a new sexual harassment
investigation. An independent probe announced today will focus on a former team employee's claim
that Snyder groped her. A previous investigation found a toxic culture at the franchise.
On Wall Street today, tech stocks led another rally. The Dow Jones industrial average gained
305 points to close at 35768. The Nasdaq rose 296 points, 2 percent. The S&P 500 added 65.
And at the Winter Olympics, the U.S. claimed its first
gold medal at the Beijing Games. Lindsey Jacobellis won gold in snowboard cross,
her first, after competing in four previous Olympics. But American Mikaela Shiffrin was
disqualified from her second event this week, after missing a gate in the slalom.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": a divided Congress finds common ground on post office reform
and other major legislation; a sharp rise in murders of journalists in Mexico prompts calls for
change; a group of Black scuba divers investigate the wreckage of slave ships; plus much more.